Gerald J. Chader, Ph.D., Professor and Chief Scientific Officer of the Doheny Retina Institute, University of Southern California

Dr. Chader received his Ph.D. degree in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from the University of Louisville Medical School and held a postdoctoral fellowship in the Dept. of Biological Chemistry at Harvard Medical School. Subsequently, he was an Asst. Professor at HMS in the Howe Laboratory, Mass. Eye & Ear Infirmary. In 1970, he joined the intramural staff of the National Eye Institute, NIH, where he ultimately served in the Senior Executive Service as Chief of the Laboratory of Retinal Cell and Molecular Biology and Director of the Intramural Research Program. In 1996, he moved to the Foundation Fighting Blindness, a non-profit foundation, where he served as Chief Scientific Officer until August of 2004. He now serves as Chief Scientific Officer of the Doheny Retina Institute, USC Medical School, Los Angeles, CA. Dr. Chader's main academic interests are in the areas of medicine and neurobiology, specializing in vision research. Specifically, in moving basic laboratory research work to preventions, treatments and cures for blinding eye diseases. He has over 300 scientific publications and has won several research awards including the ARVO Friedenwald Award and two Alcon Institute Awards.

Krzysztof Palczewski, Ph.D., Chair, Department of Pharmacology, Case Western Reserve University.

As a world leader in vision research, Dr. Palczewski is best known for solving the crystal structure of the visual protein, rhodopsin. This seminal advance is especially notable because rhodopsin is now the model for understanding how this large family called G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) responds to various cellular signals, including hormones. Dr. Palczewski's most recent translational research indicates promise for preventing/arresting age-related macular degeneration, the major cause of human blindness. Dr. Palczewski, a native of Poland, earned his M.S. degree in Organic Chemistry and a Ph.D. in Biochemistry at the University of Wroclaw. He completed postgraduate studies at the University of Gainesville in Florida. Prior to being recruited to Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, he held faculty positions at the University of Florida, the Oregon University of Health Sciences in Portland and the University of Washington in Seattle - the last as E.K. Bishop Professor of Ophthalmology with adjunct/joint faculty appointments in Pharmacology and Chemistry. Dr. Palczewski's world renowned research has been recognized by four special prizes, including the Polish Academy of Science in both 1978 and 1985, the Cogan Award in 1996, the Humboldt Research Award for U.S. Scientists in 2000, the Alcon Research Institute Award for the Year 2001 and the Tom and Sandy Trudell Research Award at the Foundation Fighting Blindness in 2007

Thomas A Reh, Ph.D., Professor of Biological Structure at the University of Washington

Dr. Reh received his B.S. in Biochemistry from the University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana in 1977 and his Ph.D. in Neuroscience from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1981. He did postdoctoral studies at Princeton with Dr. Martha Constantine-Paton. He is currently Professor of Biological Structure at the University of Washington. The overall goal of Dr. Reh's research is to understand the cell and molecular biology of regeneration in the eye. He has worked at the interface between development and regeneration, focusing on the retina, with the goal of applying the principles learned from developmental biology to design rationale strategies for promoting regeneration in the adult mammalian retina. His research has been funded through numerous grants from the N.I.H. and private foundations, and he has served on several national and international grant review panels, including NIH study sections. He is currently a member of the Scientific Advisory Board of the Foundation Fighting Blindness. He has received awards for his work, including the AHFMR and Sloan Scholar awards, and has published over 100 journal articles, reviews and books in the field of retinal regeneration and development.

Frank Young, M.D., Ph.D., Rear Admiral, USPHS (ret.), Former Commissioner of the FDA.

During his tenure as Commissioner of the FDA, Dr. Young presided over several major agency events. Among these were the passage of the Drug Price Competition and Patent Term Restoration Act (1984), the opening of the MOD I research facility (1985), the passage of the Prescription Drug Marketing Act (1987), the approval of the first drug to combat AIDS (zidovudine or AZT) (1987), instituting a fast track approval system for AIDS and cancer drugs (1988), and the development of the treatment IND for drugs for the desperately ill (1989). Dr. Young is a member of the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences. He has published over 200 scientific and public-policy publications covering topics as diverse as molecular genetics, new drug approval, risk assessment, and ethical considerations for the biotechnology field.

David G. Birch, Ph.D., Research Director, Retina Foundation of the Southwest, Director of the Rose-Silverthorne Retinal Degenerations Laboratory, Dallas.

Dr. Birch heads the research effort of the Retina Foundation of the Southwest (RFSW), which is a non-profit research institute, affiliated with the UT Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, Texas. The RFSW is also one of four institutions comprising the Southwest Regional Center of the Foundation Fighting Blindness,.He is also director of the Rose-Silverthorne Retinal Degenerations Laboratory, where he coordinates efforts to translate basic research findings into treatments for retinitis pigmentosa and allied retinal degenerations. Recent work, for example, has established methods for studying photoreceptor function directly in patients by recording electrical responses to high-intensity stimuli. Other studies have established sensitive techniques for monitoring the efficacy of therapy in patients with macular degeneration. He and his collaborators have conducted and/or participated in several recent therapeutic trials in retinitis pigmentosa and macular degeneration. Dr. Birch is also an expert in the functional assessment of mouse models of retinal disease. Recent studies have characterized the phenotypes of knockout or transgenic with mutations in GC-E (guanylyl cyclase-E), rds, rom1,elovl4, vsx1, abcr and rdh11. Typically, measures using the electroretinograms (ERG) parallel those in patients with the same mutations, so that phenotype-genotype correlations can be compared in mouse and human. The mice also provide excellent models for evaluating specific therapies developed from knowledge of the underlying disease processes. Dr. Birch received his graduate training at the University of California, Santa Barbara. He completed a one year fellowship at the University of Florida and a three year fellowship at Harvard University. He has been a recipient of support from the National Eye Institute since 1984 and has served as both special reviewer and regular member of NIH Study Sections.

Alan Bird, M.D., Emeritus Professor of Medical Ophthalmology, Honorary Consultant, Moorfields Eye Hospital, Institute of Ophthalmology, University College London

Dr. Bird is internationally recognized as a pioneer in ophthalmic research, teaching and clinical medicine. Professor Bird is one of the world's experts on the treatment of retinal vascular disease and genetic and degenerative retinal disorders. Professor Bird's expertise has been widely sought after and he has made strategic contributions to the US National Eye Institute, the UK Medical Research Council. Ha has also played a key role in the design and evaluation of numerous clinical trials involving ground-breaking treatments in retinal disease today. Dr. Bird received his medical degree from Guys Hospital, University of London, and trained in both neurology and neurosurgery before his ophthalmic residency at Moorfields Eye Hospital. He had a one-year fellowship in neuro-ophthalmology at Bascom Palmer Eye Institute in Miami, Florida, and a brief period at UCSF He returned to London in 1969 and was appointed to the staff at the Institute of Ophthalmology and Moorfields Eye Hospital. He has remained there ever since, apart from a sabbatical period in cell biology with Dr Dean Bok at UCLA.

Frank G. Holz, M.D., Chairman and Professor of the Department of Ophthalmology, University of Bonn, Germany.

He passed his residency in Ophthalmology at the University of Heidelberg and a two year fellowship at Moorfields Eye Hospital/Insitute of Ophthalmology in London. Dr. Holz's main research activities focus on pathogenesis and therapy of age-related macular degeneration as well as on retinal imaging methodologies and phenotyping. His major clinical interests are in medical and surgical retina. He published over 140 articles in peer-reviewd journals. He is a founding member of the priority research program (Age-related Macular Degeneration) funded by the German Research Council (DFG), Editor-in-Chief of the organ of the German Ophthalmological Society (Der Ophthalmologe), and currently president of that society.

Richard Alan Lewis, M.D., M.S., Professor, Department of Ophthalmology, Medicine, Pediatrics, and Molecular and Human Genetics and Faculty Associate, Huffington Center on Aging, Cullen Eye Institute, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston.

He received his medical degree from the University of Michigan and a Master of Science in Ophthalmology from the University's Rackham Graduate School. After serving as an Intern in the Department of Medicine at the University of Michigan Medical Center, he was then a Pre-Residency Fellow in Retinal Disease and a Resident in the Department of Ophthalmology at the University of Michigan Hospitals. Dr. Lewis joined the faculty of the University of Michigan Medical Center for five years and was then recruited to Baylor College of Medicine, where he is now a Professor in the Departments of Ophthalmology, Pediatrics, Medicine, and Molecular and Human Genetics. He is also a Faculty Associate at the Huffington Center on Aging. Although his primary clinical practice covers retinal disease, his research interests have focused on genetics and hereditary eye diseases, particularly those that cause visual disabilities in infants and children. His collaborations in the Department of Molecular and Human Genetics at Baylor have led successfully to the mapping and identification of more genes for hereditary eye disease than any other clinical ophthalmologist in the United States. His curriculum vitae includes more than 450 entries in peer-reviewed journals and textbooks and seven named lectureships throughout the United States. His recent accomplishments include 1) the collaborative mapping, isolation, and cloning of the gene for Stargardt Disease, 2) the first recognition that single copies of mutations in this gene predispose to Age-Related Macular Degeneration, and 3) the discovery of multiple genes for Bardet-Biedl Syndrome. This work was the first ever to demonstrate digenic, tri-allelic inheritance in humans. The discovery of these genes will lead to novel explanations for common human traits of obesity, mental retardation, asthma, and retinitis pigmentosa.

Jason Slakter,M.D., Clinical Professor of Ophthalmology at New York University School of Medicine

Dr. Slakter is a board certified retinal and macular disease specialist, Clinical Professor of Ophthalmology at New York University School of Medicine, and currently practices at the Vitreous-Retina-Macula Consultants in New York, N.Y. Dr. Slakter is a nationally and internationally recognized retinal specialist who has been involved in the design and application of a variety of diagnostic and therapeutic techniques. He has published more than 85 papers and book chapters. His chief research interests relate to the management of exudative age-related macular degeneration, diabetic retinopathy, retinal vascular disease and central serous chorioretinopathy, and he has served as a principal investigator in many of the clinical trials for new therapies for these conditions. He created and is the director of the Digital Angiography Reading Center, which serves as a key resource for numerous physician and industry-sponsored trials evaluating the efficacy and safety of various treatments for age-related macular degeneration, diabetic retinopathy and other retinal diseases. Dr. Slakter is a member of numerous medical organizations including The Macula Society, The Retina Society, and The American Society of Retina Specialists and is the Editor-in-Chief of Retinal Physician journal.

Janet S. Sunness, M.D., Medical Director of Hoover Rehabilitation Services for Low Vision and Blindness, Greater Baltimore Medical Center

Dr. Sunness is a leading world expert on geographic atrophy, the advanced dry form of age-related macular degeneration and Stargardt disease, that is the most common cause of macular degeneration and central visual loss in young people. Dr. Sunness received her M.D. from Albert Einstein College of Medicine in Bronx, NY. She completed her internship in Internal Medicine and her residency in Ophthalmology (both at Brookdale Hospital Medical Center in Brooklyn, NY.) Her fellowship in Medical Retina and Visual Function was at John Hopkins School of Medicine. Dr. Sunness joined Greater Baltimore Medical Center in March, 2005. Prior, she spent 21 years with the Johns Hopkins Medical system, including serving as an associate professor in the School of Medicine's Department of Ophthalmology, medical director of the Low Vision Service, director of the Retinal Dystrophy Center and director of the Visual Function Service. These were all at the Wilmer Eye Institute.

Yasuo Tano, M.D., Ph.D., Professor and Chairman of the Department of Ophthalmology at Osaka University Medical School and Vice President of the Osaka University Hospital, Osaka, Japan

Dr. Tano is the President of the Asia-Pacific Academy of Ophthalmology and the past President of Japanese Ophthalmological Society. He has authored and co-authored over 700 peer-reviewed English and Japanese publications in the field of ophthalmology and visual sciences, and has written or edited over 70 books and chapters on related topics. His research interests have been focused on patho-physiology of vitreoretinal disorders. He has been a principal investigator of the Japan Artificial Vision Project since 2001. Clinically he was one of the first to perform pars plana vitrectomy in Japan as a trailblazer. He is internationally known as one of the leading surgeons in vitreoretinal surgery. He has invented many fine vitreoretinal instruments, which have contributed to advances in vitreoretinal surgery. He also has keen interests in the medical retina and has served as a principal investigator on several important clinical trials on retinal diseases. He has also dedicated his time to train aspiring surgeons thus paving the way for continuing excellence in the field of surgical and medical retina into the next generation.

Kang Zhang, M.D, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Science, and Eccles Institute of Human Genetics, University of Utah.

Dr. Zhang obtained his M.D. with Magna Cum Laude honors from Harvard Medical School and his PhD in genetics from Harvard University. He completed his residency in ophthalmology at Wilmer Eye Institute at Johns Hopkins University and his retina fellowship at University of Utah. He was a faculty at Johns Hopkins University, Cleveland Clinic Foundation, and University of Utah. He is currently Professor of Ophthalmology and Human Genetics at Shiley Eye Center, University of California San Diego. His honors include Burroughs Wellcome Fund Clinical Scientist Award in Translational Research; Lew Wasserman Merit Award from Research to Prevent Blindness; Charles Schepens Award for Excellence in Retina Research; and Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions Clinician Scientist Award. He is a member of Macula Society, American Society of Clinical Investigation, and ASRS. His research focuses on novel disease gene targets and therapies in macular degeneration, diabetic retinopathy and inherited retinal degenerations. He has numerous grants from NIH, and other foundations. Dr. Zhang has published or co-authored more than 70 peer reviewed manuscripts in top journals including Science, New England Journal of Medicine, Nature, Nature Genetics, Nature Medicine, Cell, PNAS, JCI -- covering topics in genetics, molecular biology, and clinical trials in ophthalmology.

Eberhart Zrenner, M.D., Professor, Department of Ophthalmology, Director of the Institute for Ophthalmic Research , Centre for Ophthalmology, University of Tuebingen , Germany.

Dr. Zrenner is Professor of Ophthalmology and Director of the Institute for Ophthalmic Research at the Centre for Ophthalmology of the University of Tuebingen, Germany. His research interests include: retinal physiology and pathophysiology, neuro-opththalmology, retina implants, electrophysiology and other methods of non-invasive function testing, neurodegeneration and ophthalmogenetics. He also heads a group in Germany, that develops subretinal active microphotodiode arrays (MPDAs) to replace degenerated photoreceptors and directs the clinical MPDA. He has studied electronic engineering as well as medicine at the Technical University Munich, where he obtained his MD degree in 1972. Subsequently worked within the Max-Planck-Society for 16 years and received a Fogarty fellowship at the National Eye Institute, Bethesda, MD (1977 and 1978), studying temporal, spatial and chromatic characteristics of retinal ganglion cells via extracellular recordings in monkey retina. After an associate professorship at the University Eye Hospital in Munich he became full professor and Executive medical director of the University Eye Hospital in Tuebingen in 1989. He has received numerous awards and has published approximately 350 peer reviewed papers .

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